Irishttp://www.pfaw.org/
Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:44:14 -0500Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:15:31 -0400Siri’s Evil Twin Sister Iris: Popular Android App Calls Abortion Murder, Cites Exodushttp://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/siris-evil-twin-sister-iris-popular-android-app-calls-abortion-murder-cites-exodus
<p>Apple&rsquo;s electronic personal assistant Siri <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/siri-abortion-aclu-naral-abortion-rights-opponents-apple/story?id=15077020">made headlines</a> back in November for drawing a blank when asked for the location of the nearest abortion clinic. If you thought that was bad, meet Iris, Siri&rsquo;s evil twin sister (or fundamentalist cousin).</p>
<div>Iris &ndash; Siri spelled backwards &ndash; is the popular electronic assistant created by <a href="http://dexetra.com/">Dexetra</a> for Android phones. It&rsquo;s been downloaded over <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dexetra.iris">1 million times</a> and is powered by <a href="http://www.chacha.com/">ChaCha</a>, the Internet&rsquo;s &ldquo;leading answers service with more than a billion questions answered.&rdquo; In other words, Iris may be a knockoff, but it&rsquo;s no joke.</div>
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<div>That&rsquo;s why we were surprised when we heard the Family Research Council crowing about the Android being &ldquo;<a href="http://www.frc.org/washingtonwatchdailyradiocommentary/a-pro-life-verizon-on-the-horizon">as pro-life as they come</a>&rdquo; and watched their video. We've posted the video and radio segment <a href="http://youtu.be/c_TPxXEnmG4">here</a>:</div>
<center><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/c_TPxXEnmG4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br />
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<div>After swimming through a sea of iPhones and Blackberrys, we found an Android and tried it for ourselves &ndash; sure enough, Iris did everything but condemn us to eternal suffering in hell.</div>
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<div>Iris&rsquo; answers are drawn from ChaCha, which provided a string of anti-choice answers to our questions:&nbsp;</div>
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<div><center><a href="http://www.chacha.com/askChaCha/is+abortion+wrong%3F"><img alt="" src="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/sites/default/files/images/chacha-is-abortion-wrong.png" /></a></center></div>
<div><center><a href="http://www.chacha.com/askChaCha/what+makes+abortion+wrong%3F"><img alt="" src="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/sites/default/files/images/chacha-abortion-wrong.png" /></a></center></div>
<div><center><a href="http://www.chacha.com/askChaCha/are+you+prochoice%3F"><img alt="" src="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/sites/default/files/images/chacha-pro-choice.png" /></a>&nbsp;</center></div>
<div>It must be said that Iris isn&rsquo;t all fire and brimstone. Iris failed to quote scripture in response to questions about adultery, birth control, homosexuality, working on the Sabbath, and eating shellfish (which is an &ldquo;abomination before the Lord&rdquo;). And if you ask Iris whether she is &ldquo;pro-life or pro-choice,&rdquo; you get this far more reasonable response:</div>
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<div><a href="http://www.chacha.com/askChaCha/Are+you+pro+life%3F+Or+pro+choice%3F"><img alt="" src="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/sites/default/files/images/chacha-prolifeorchoice.png" /></a></div>
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<div>Android certainly has a right to include a right-wing personal assistant in its app store, and ChaCha has the right to provide slanted answers, but that surely isn&rsquo;t what the companies had in mind. This appears to be the work of a single employee with an agenda. ChaCha should take appropriate action to ensure that its service isn&rsquo;t being used to inappropriately foist the views of certain employees on the public.</div>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>Josh GlasstetterAbortioncell phoneIrisSirismart phoneTom McClusky Tony Perkins ChaChaFamily Research Council28531Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:44:14 -0500Iris